Circus Circus history

In April of 1969, the Nevada Gaming Control Board ordered it closed.

Sarno rejoined the organization in January of 1970, after having arranged to rectify some of the resort's pressing financial matters with a personal load of $200,000.

Although a 400-room, 15-story hotel tower was completed in 1972, Circus Circus continued losing money; within two years Sarno was broke.

Apparently, in mid-1973, the buffet replaced the Hippodrome and Gilded Cage.

In May of 1974, Sarno leased the property and sold the structures to William Bennett and William N. Pennington.

In 1975, a 15 story, 395 room twin tower was completed which brought the number of rooms to 795.

In 1978, Circus built a five-story parking garage with 1,000 spaces to accommodate its growing visitors.

A gasoline shortage, resulting in long lines at service stations, lessened Circus Circus’s profits for several months in 1979.

Circus Circus added more hotel rooms in 1980.

Pink and white air-conditioned cars glided along a monorail 18 feet above Circus Circus Drive carrying casino patrons between the big top and their hotels starting in 1981.

In 1982, completion of the $7 million expansion and renovation included enlarging the casino, dining and valet parking facilities, interior decoration and a new front entrance marquee.

In 1983, Circus went public with shares being traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

As part of these plans Circus Circus purchased the Colorado Belle Casino—located next to the Edgewater—in 1984, for $4 million.

Circus Circus expanded the Reno facilities in 1985 as well: a 27-story hotel, the Skyway Tower, boasted more than 1,625 rooms and suites.

Harsh winter weather, in particular, resulted in an extremely poor showing for the Reno properties during 1986.

The Colorado Belle and the Edgewater quickly became the top two money-makers in the Laughlin market and Circus Circus ended 1987 with earnings of nearly $56 million.

In April of 1988 the company purchased a large parcel of land once owned by Howard Hughes on the Las Vegas Strip and designated a sizeable chunk as the site for a new mega-resort bearing a castle theme.

In February of 1989 Circus Circus relinquished its only non-gaming unit, Circus Hobbies, Inc., a money-losing enterprise that marketed radio-controlled toy planes.

When Circus Circus opened Excaliber in June of 1990, the enterprise became the world’s largest resort.

By the end of the first nine months of 1991, the company had earned $84.3 million on sales of nearly $620 million, despite a general recession in the gaming industry.

On August 23, 1993, Circus opened The Adventuredome.

In 1997, Circus opened its 8,000 square-feet of banquet and meeting facilities in the Skyrise Tower and completed renovation of the Casino Tower.

In March, 2000, Circus Circus announced that their 30 year old Chapel of the Fountain was renovated.

Forbes noted, “Donald Trump was the best man at Ruffin's 2008 wedding to his wife Oleksandra, a former Miss Ukraine.”

Ruffin also bought Treasure Island (TI), for $775 million from MGM in 2009.

A sign outside the Slots A Fun casino, part of Circus Circus in Las Vegas, NV, January 2020.